New DENR director wants change as uncertain future looms

By By Kate Elizabeth Queram - Wilmington Star News

Published: Monday, January 14, 2013 at 04:18 PM.

"We want all government to adopt a service mentality," said state Sen. Thom Goolsby, R-New Hanover. "It is our tax money and they do work for us, and we expect the laws to be enforced and we expect the environment to be protected, but we all have to realize that we’re in this together."

Dismantling DENR?

As secretary, Skvarla lacks the authority to change policy — including repealing or relaxing regulations and environmental protection measures. He has said repeatedly that he has no intention of spearheading similar measures through the legislature.

"We’re not going to go backwards in terms of the quality of environment," Skvarla said. "Our quality of environment will be maintained."

That includes the persistent rumor that Republicans will seek to dismantle DENR into separate factions — one consisting of zoos, aquariums and other beloved groups, another isolating the less popular regulatory branches, including the divisions of air and water quality.

"I think I can make a very good case that all DENR agencies can be kept under one umbrella," Skvarla said. "I have not had that conversation with anybody at the legislature, but I’ll bet that they will be good listeners if DENR can show they are able to strike the correct balance between environmental protection and our business community, to allow jobs to be created and growth to occur."

That mindset, coupled with a Republican super-majority in a state government that has in recent years slashed both DENR’s budget and its oversight capabilities, could spell disaster for protective measures currently in place to preserve natural resources, according to environmental experts.

Two days into his tenure as secretary of the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Pinehurst businessman John Skvarla distributed a mission statement to agency employees outlining several goals for the future.

First among them was to establish an atmosphere more committed to customer service, including a renewed effort to improve what he categorized as the contentious nature of interactions between the workers and citizens attempting to obtain permits.

"DENR must always be a customer service-friendly organization — whether we’re issuing permits or educating citizens about recycling," the document reads. "To best serve the public, DENR must become an agency where collaborative stewardship among citizens, government regulators and the business community works for everyone."

Since 2005, Skvarla has served as president, chief operating officer and finally CEO of the Raleigh-based Restoration Systems, a company he describes as a "premier environmental firm" that restores wetlands for credits it then sells to developers to negate those destroyed in other places, as mandated by the federal Clean Water Act.

That background allowed Skvarla to see firsthand what it’s like for members of the public to interact with state agencies, a process he found largely combative and fraught with red tape.

"It’s been much more adversarial than it’s needed to be," he said. "People don’t have to have their fists up all the time. Neither side is a bad guy. In permitting situations, people on the environmental side want the needle to fall on one side, and people on the development side want it to fall on the other side, but I don’t think the two sides are that far apart."

Skvarla hopes to change that climate by encouraging agency employees to embrace customer service as their first priority, a mindset that’s grown steadily throughout state government for about the past year. That focus received a burst of renewed energy following the election of Republican Gov. Pat McCrory, legislators said.

"We want all government to adopt a service mentality," said state Sen. Thom Goolsby, R-New Hanover. "It is our tax money and they do work for us, and we expect the laws to be enforced and we expect the environment to be protected, but we all have to realize that we’re in this together."

Dismantling DENR?

As secretary, Skvarla lacks the authority to change policy — including repealing or relaxing regulations and environmental protection measures. He has said repeatedly that he has no intention of spearheading similar measures through the legislature.

"We’re not going to go backwards in terms of the quality of environment," Skvarla said. "Our quality of environment will be maintained."

That includes the persistent rumor that Republicans will seek to dismantle DENR into separate factions — one consisting of zoos, aquariums and other beloved groups, another isolating the less popular regulatory branches, including the divisions of air and water quality.

"I think I can make a very good case that all DENR agencies can be kept under one umbrella," Skvarla said. "I have not had that conversation with anybody at the legislature, but I’ll bet that they will be good listeners if DENR can show they are able to strike the correct balance between environmental protection and our business community, to allow jobs to be created and growth to occur."

That mindset, coupled with a Republican super-majority in a state government that has in recent years slashed both DENR’s budget and its oversight capabilities, could spell disaster for protective measures currently in place to preserve natural resources, according to environmental experts.

"It will absolutely be easier for deregulation to take place under this administration," said David Webster, a biologist at the University of North Carolina Wilmington and a member of the state’s Coastal Resources Commission. "I’m always suspicious of the influence that special-interest groups have on the political process. By nature, they are advocates for their own narrow agendas and unfortunately, our political process allows that."

Still, Webster said he would largely refrain from judgment before changes are enacted.

Sometimes, he said, a diversity of opinion within state government can prove valuable, particularly in environmental regulations which can have an important effect on attracting businesses to the state.

"Although political appointees can influence the policy decisions, they tend to know better than to try to contradict what the experts in the discipline are telling them," Webster said. "I’m cautiously optimistic that we’ll get the ability to continue to do the good things we’re doing for the environment, because it is so important to our economic growth."